The Shiga Microalbuminuria Reduction Trial (SMART) showed the advantage of ARB over CCB beyond the blood pressure (BP)-lowering effect in reducing microalbuminuria. To further assess the impact of BP control or renin-angiotensin system inhibition on microalbuminuria, the SMART patients were re-analyzed. Hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria were ...

The ideal therapy for patients with isolated systolic hypertension remains unclear; diuretics, calcium channel blockers, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are all used in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to determine whether a fixed-dose ACE inhibitor/diuretic combination would reduce ambulatory blood pressures (BP) and arterial stiffness in ...

The study compared valsartan/amlodipine combination with irbesartan/hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) combination in very elderly hypertensives. After a 4-week placebo period, 94 hypertensives, aged 75-89 years were randomized to valsartan 160mg/amlodipine 5mg or irbesartan 300mg/HCTZ 12.5mg for 24 weeks according to a prospective, parallel group study. After 4 weeks amlodipine or HCTZ was ...

INTRODUCTION: Admission blood pressure (BP) assessment is a central component of severity assessment for community acquired pneumonia. The aim of this study was to establish which readily available haemodynamic measure on admission is most useful for predicting severity in patients admitted with community acquired pneumonia. METHODS: A prospective observational study ...

BACKGROUND: The prognostic impact of masked hypertension is not yet completely clear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic relevance of masked hypertension in subjects with prehypertension. METHODS: The occurrence of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events was evaluated in 591 subjects with prehypertension defined as clinic blood ...

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors combined with higher doses of hydrochlorothiazide (HCT), that is, 25 mg daily, have been recognized as an effective form of antihypertensive therapy. To evaluate the coadministration of 20 mg ramipril with 25 mg HCT, we carried out a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial with two dose schedules of ...

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of hypertension in the Middle East is not well defined. We examined the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in Iran. METHODS: The Survey of Risk Factors of Noncommunicable Diseases was conducted in 2005 and contains a representative sample of the Iranian adult population. Of 70,981 ...

BACKGROUND: Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is a risk factor for resistant hypertension. Overnight polysomnography and portable sleep monitors are not generally available and questionnaires may be useful for screening OSAS. In a case-control study, we investigate the association between resistant hypertension and sleep disorders evaluated by the Berlin Questionnaire ...

BACKGROUND: Combined regimen may be superior to monotherapy in blood pressure (BP) control. Since BP control is critically related to cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in hypertensive patients, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a low-dose combined regimen of preterax compared with cilazapril monotherapy for better BP ...

Antihypertensive drugs that block the renin-angiotensin system (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors [ACEIs] or angiotensin receptor blockers) are recommended for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). A low blood pressure (BP) goal (BP, <130/80 mm Hg) is also recommended. The objective of this study was to determine the long-term effects of currently ...

The role of clinical inertia in the treatment of patients with hypertension was assessed by evaluating health care providers' knowledge, attitudes, and clinical practices regarding hypertension management. A cross-sectional survey was conducted at the Forsyth Medical Group in North Carolina. Participants were physicians (N = 18, 10 sites) and support ...

Masked hypertension is reported to have the same level of hazard risk of cardiovascular mortality and stroke morbidity as sustained hypertension. The number of managerial employees suffering from cardiovascular disease and stroke is known to be greater than other employee. The aim of this study was to compare the 24-h ...

The efficacy and safety of the angiotensin receptor blocker olmesartan medoxomil (OLM) was assessed in 550 elderly Japanese hypertensive patients who were followed for 24 weeks in daily clinical practice. Patients were given OLM alone or in combination with other antihypertensive drugs at the discretion of the investigators. After 24 ...

This was a prospective, cluster randomized controlled trial in patients with uncontrolled hypertension aged 21 to 85 years (mean, 61 years). Pharmacists made recommendations to physicians for patients in the intervention clinics (n=101) but not patients in the control clinics (n=78). The mean adjusted difference in systolic blood pressure (BP) ...

Poor control of clinic and 24-h blood pressure (BP) is associated with enhanced risk of all cardiovascular disease events. Certain patient groups including the elderly, African-Americans, and those with hypertension and comorbid disease are difficult to control, as are patients with stage 2 hypertension (systolic BP>or=160 mmHg or diastolic BP>or=100 ...

BACKGROUND: Parental hypertension is used to classify hypertension risk in young adults, but the long-term association of parental hypertension with blood pressure (BP) change and risk of hypertension over the adult life span has not been well studied. METHODS: We examined the association of parental hypertension with BP change and ...

The prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) rises with severity of hypertension (HT), age, and obesity. Its prevalence ranges from 20% in mildly hypertensive patients to almost 100% in those with severe or complicated HT. However, the diagnosis of LVH is not straightforward, and the definitions and criteria used in ...

Many Korean American persons have hypertension, but competing life priorities often prevent them from attending health-promotion educational activities. Using principles of community-based participatory research, the authors conducted a prospective clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of a mailed vs an in-class culturally tailored education intervention. A total of 380 hypertensive ...

OBJECTIVE: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have been shown to lower central augmentation index (cAI), an index of arterial wave reflection, more than beta-blockers. We tested whether this is also true for long-term treatment with an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). METHODS: One-hundred and fifty-six subjects with essential hypertension were randomised to ...

Resistant hypertension is defined as blood pressure (BP) that remains uncontrolled in spite of the use of >/=3 antihypertensive medications. Stricter BP goals, higher obesity rates, older age, and increased use of exogenous BP-elevating substances are related to an increasing prevalence of resistant hypertension. The evaluation of patients with resistant ...

To investigate the occurrence of adverse blood pressure (BP) events during transurethral microwave therapy (TUMT) for benign prostatic hyperplasia. We conducted a retrospective study of the vital signs of 185 consecutive patients who received TUMT (via 6 devices) at 4 institutions from March 1, 2003, to September 18, 2005. Maximum ...

Health authorities including the World Health Organization (WHO) have recommended that hypertension health education and promotion in the community will increase awareness and thus aid knowledge, early detection and prevention. The objectives of the study were two fold: (a) to assess the knowledge of hypertension risk factors, amongst non medical ...

OBJECTIVE: Discontinuation rates with antihypertensive drugs in real life are high. The present study investigates the relationship between persistence with antihypertensive drugs (AHT) and blood pressure (BP) goal attainment in daily clinical practice. METHODS: In the PHARMO Record Linkage System, which includes drug dispensing and hospital records for > 2 ...

The objective of the study was to identify potential explanatory factors for racial differences in blood pressure (BP) control. The design of the study was a cross-sectional study The study included 608 patients with hypertension who were either African American (50%) or white (50%) and who received primary care in ...

Insufficient drug adherence is an important reason for inadequate blood pressure control. Currently, methods that measure drug adherence objectively are lacking. Objective methods are needed to help improve blood pressure control and outcome in hypertensive patients. Potassium bromide added to antihypertensive drugs can be used to monitor drug adherence in ...

Blood pressure (BP) recordings often differ between arms, but the extent to which these differences are reproducible and whether the differences have prognostic importance is unknown. We enrolled 421 consecutive patients from a medicine and a renal clinic at a veterans' hospital. Three BP recordings were obtained in each arm ...

Although achieving blood pressure (BP) control is critical to improve cardiovascular prognosis in hypertensive patients, many of them fail to achieve BP goals. The majority of hypertensive patients need more than one antihypertensive agent to attain BP targets. Combination therapy is required when monotherapy fails to attain BP objectives and ...

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the ease of use and tolerability of labetalol (L) and nicardipine (N) for hypertension management in patients with acute stroke. METHODS: This is a retrospective, non-randomized study. Consecutive adults within 24 h of hospital admission who received intravenous bolus labetalol or nicardipine infusion as first-line antihypertensive therapy were ...

ACE inhibitors are widely prescribed for hypertension so it is essential to determine and compare their effects on blood pressure (BP), heart rate and withdrawals due to adverse effects (WDAE). To quantify the dose-related systolic and/or diastolic BP lowering efficacy of ACE inhibitors versus placebo in the treatment of primary ...

Hypertension is highly prevalent in older persons and most often presents as isolated systolic hypertension. Systolic blood pressure (BP) is a stronger predictor of risk than diastolic BP in persons older than 50 years. Most of these patients will require multiple drug therapies to achieve the substantial reductions in systolic ...

Drospirenone (DRSP), is a unique progestin with antimineralocorticoid activity that has been combined with 17-beta estradiol (E2) for the treatment of symptoms of the menopause in women with hypertension. We assessed the effects of DRSP/E2, E2 alone, and placebo on early morning systolic blood pressure (BP) as well as the ...

INTRODUCTION: Detection and treatment of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in hypertension is important in order to reduce cardiovascular risk. The product of QRS voltage and duration (e.g. Cornell voltage-duration product; CorP), is a good marker of LVH and the current study was designed to determine the prevalence of LVH in ...

To evaluate barriers to adherence to hypertension guidelines among publicly employed general practitioners (GPs). Questionnaire-based survey distributed to GPs in 24 randomly selected primary care centres in the Region of Skåne in southern Sweden. A total of 109 GPs received a self-administered questionnaire and 90 of them responded. Use of ...

BACKGROUND: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may increase blood pressure (BP) and blunt the effects of many antihypertensives. It seems that NSAIDs and the antihypertensive drugs differ in their propensity to such an interaction. OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent of the interaction between two antihypertensives and three NSAIDs. METHODS: A prospective ...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) in an inner city cardiology practice. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Inner city cardiology practice. PATIENTS: Consecutive patients were evaluated for hypertension and had > or = 8 home blood pressure recordings during 2-4 weeks while clinically stable on a medical regimen. MAIN ...

Although the awareness and control of hypertension has increased, only 37% of hypertensive patients in the US achieve the conservative goal of <140/90 mmHg. Achieving optimal blood pressure (BP) control is the most important single issue in the management of hypertension, and in most hypertensive patients, it is difficult or ...

The blood pressure (BP) of an individual varies considerably from day to day. Hypertension is commonly identified based on the average of two BPs taken at each of two visits, a practice consistent with current guidelines. We hypothesized that (i) in the setting of high-normal BP ("prehypertension"), this practice results ...

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. In 2005-2006, 29% of all U.S. adults 18 years and older were hypertensive (systolic BP =/> 140 mmHg or diastolic BP =/> 90 mmHg or taking medications for hypertension). The prevalence of hypertension was nearly equal between men and women. In ...

PURPOSE: We determined the efficacy and safety of a relatively high dose of terazosin (5mg) in Korean patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), with or without concomitant hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From July to December 2006, 200 men who consecutively presented with LUTS were prospectively studied. Eight weeks after ...

The pathological processes associated with development of cardiovascular disease begin early in life. For example, elevated blood pressure (BP) can be seen in childhood and tracks into adulthood. The relationship between physical activity (PA) and BP in adults is well-established, but findings in children have been inconsistent, with few studies ...

Blood pressure (BP) shows a continuous relationship with the risk of CVD. There is substantial evidence that dietary potassium exerts an anti-pressor effect. Most clinical trials have used KCl. However, the chloride ion may have a pressor effect and in foods potassium is associated with organic anions. In a double-blind ...

BACKGROUND: Blood pressure control is often insufficient in secondary prevention. The objective of the present study was to determine predictors for long-term elevated blood pressure (BP) in patients after coronary events. METHODS: Patients were included at admission to inpatient cardiac rehabilitation. A total of 18 cardiac rehabilitation centers in Germany ...